Now I am old. I find that my Introversion has kicked in full force. I now operate more out of an Enneagram Five position. I spend my time writing (such as this essay) rather than operating out in the world. However, my dreams are still filled with Enneagram Seven activities. I still dream of operating as president of the graduate school that I once led. I am still dreaming of new ideas and envisioning the enactment of new ventures.
I find this also to be the case with several of my colleagues. When we share the content of our dreams, I find that one of my colleagues retains his Enneagram Eight position that was prevalent in his life, as a leading figure of several organizations in Washington D.C. He was an Enneagram Eight “warrior” who fought many battles on the D.C. beltway. Now, in retirement, he has retreated to a position where Enneagram Six has become his primary waking perspective, while continuing to dream of battles in Washington, D.C. With an Enneagram Six perspective becoming dominant, my colleague is now deeply disturbed by what is occurring not only in Washington, D.C. but also elsewhere in the world. The evil forces have expanded in his vision of the world. Frustrated that he can no longer fight any of these forces, my colleague is often despairing of the world in which he is now living in his old age.
Another of my colleagues has also shifted her daytime and dreamtime perspectives – but in a manner that is less disturbing than it is for my former Washington D.C. leader. This second colleague has been a doer throughout her adult life, serving as an Enneagram Three. She produced a checklist each day and delights in completing it. As a highly productive contributor to the organizations with which she has worked, my colleague entered each day with considerable energy and determination. She is now retired and older. Her Enneagram Three primarily resides in her dreams. Many tasks are still being completed in her dreams – but not as many in her waking life. For this colleague, the shift is to Enneagram Five (as it has been for me). However, just as the theme in the content of my D.C. leader’s daytime and dreamtime is still related to societal challenges, so is my book-reading colleague still focused on completing tasks. It is now the completion of many books each week, rather than completing tasks at her worksite.
If I think about what has remained the same for me in my daytime and dreamtime lives, I will have to admit that my daytime activities still have a “dreamy” character. I am now dreaming of new ideas that I put in essays (like this) that I have composed or in books that I write. I am still active in my life; however, this activity is more likely to occur in my brain than in my work with other people (except in the essays and books that I co-author).
Perhaps, we don’t really change as we grow old. We just shift the platform. Perhaps, we are not too old to dream. We use the Dreamtime platform as a way to continue playing out our daytime perspectives and practices.
A Jungian Perspective on the Dreams of Old People
Carl Jung (1974) had much to say about the dreams that appear in the lives of people during the second half of their life. While most psychologists and psychotherapists holding a psychodynamic perspective focus on the events of early life, Dr. Jung was among the first to consider the dynamics operating in later life to be just as interesting and informative as those occurring in childhood. Several of the most influential of Carl Jung’s essays focus in particular on later adulthood (Jung, 1969). His own autobiographical account also includes late-life accounts as well as early life experiences (Jung, 1963).
